Ungrateful wretch: Tobacco has been good to me
This week's column.
The caller was so fired-up one voice mail couldn't contain all of his anger. So he left two.
To put it bluntly, he was sick and tired of my attacks on the tobacco industry. And he was offended that I didn't tell "the whole truth" in a column that supported a legislative ban on smoking in restaurants and workplaces in North Carolina.
Part of that truth, he fumed, was Lorillard Tobacco Co.'s prominent role as a corporate citizen in Greensboro. And part of it, he added, was my own ungrateful attitude despite the many kindnesses tobacco has bestowed upon me and my family since I was knee-high to an ashtray.
"You fail to mention that you were fed, clothed and educated on tobacco money," he said. "Are you biting the hand that fed you?"
And he was right. In the interest of full disclosure, it's time to come clean on the vital role tobacco has played and continues to play in my family's life.
My mother spent more than 30 years as an employee at Lorillard, from which she retired 11 years ago. She enjoyed her time at the place she called "Old Gold," for one of the cigarette brands it produced.
For her, Lorillard was like family away from home. Many of her friends still work there.
But there's more.
I
myself worked at Lorillard in the months before I went to college. The company, which offered summer jobs to employees' children, hired me to work primarily in the Packing Department, pulling trays full of cigarettes off a conveyor and sliding them onto a packaging machine. The pay was excellent (especially for a college student). And the people there were helpful and friendly, without exception.
But there's more
.
The academic scholarship I received to go to college was administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. But it was paid for by Loew's Corp., then the parent company of … Lorillard Tobacco Co. My parents still have an 8x10, black-and-white glossy of the scholarship certificate presentation at the administrative offices of the Lorillard plant on East Market Street.
But there's more.
As I am typing these words, my baby brother is finishing another shift as an "adjuster" at Lorillard, which means he is one of the people who repairs machinery when it breaks. My brother has worked in Lorillard's Greensboro plant for 21 years and two months.
But there's more
.
My granddaddy grew tobacco on a farm in Fayetteville, which, I presume, allowed him and my grandmother to raise two children and send both of them to college. My daddy went to N.C. A&T, where he met my mother. So, it's arguable that, if not for tobacco, I wouldn't even be here today.
The caller also noted Lorillard's support of United Way. And he's right again. This year, Lorillard led the way among local companies, raising more than $726,000 in its combined corporate and employee giving to United Way, up from $693,000 last year.
"Lorillard and its employees have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the community through United Way," Neil Belenky, president of the United Way of Greensboro, said last week.
Even so, cigarettes are still bad for you. And they're still bad for me, too, if you exhale in my face.
Secondhand smoke still is unpleasant, unhealthy and unclean.
Further, teens should not be encouraged to smoke and, at least today, tobacco executives not only won't argue that point — they embrace it.
The point is, I appreciate all that tobacco has contributed, directly and indirectly, to me and my family. I also appreciate the contributions the industry has made to the state's economy
.
But times have changed. We know harsh truths about the health hazards of tobacco (especially secondhand smoke) that we didn't know before.
So I choose not to smoke. And I respect your right to make your own choices.
But if you do decide to light up, please respect my right not to be forced to share the experience.
These are, by the way, strictly my views. My mama and baby brother had absolutely, positively nothing to do with them.
Comments (4)
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My wife is the most out spoken critic of smoking in the free world. However she will be the first to tell you the goverment has no right to tell you where you can and cannot smoke. She says and (she is correct) damn I hate that. The customer should make that decison. If we choose we can go to non smoking resturant, are set in non smoking area. Of course as screwed up as NC, I guess this smoke screen beats, trying to straighten up the mess the Weasel has made of this state.How about writing about something important like HB 878, where our corrupt governor wants to steal your land to give to his rich friends.I can avoid smoking, I need help keeping the Weasel from stealing my land.
Posted on April 29, 2007 6:38 PM
Allen...you're coming clean only increases my admiration of your opinion on this matter.
Opposing exposure to second hand smoke does not necessarily confirm an opposition to the Tobacco Cartel Industry itself, however it is difficult to convince local employees of that.
On the other hand...
"Lorillard and its employees have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the community through United Way," Neil Belenky, president of the United Way of Greensboro, said last week.
They have also demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the community by keeping the Oncology wards full.
Posted on April 30, 2007 12:47 AM
correction to typo..."your".
Posted on April 30, 2007 12:49 AM
Thanks, Tony. I'm guessing my situation with Lorillard is a microcosm of the state's uncomfortable relationship with its tobacco heritage.
You don't want to be ungrateful but ...
Posted on May 1, 2007 12:21 AM